This season Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio) is determined to stop Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) from spreading the influence of Cobra Kai far and wide.
After the highly entertaining previous season, which surpassed the second and third seasons, I'm happy to say that this keeps up the level of quality. The season is full of surprises, good comedy and dialogue, and great action and acting. (Also set-wise, I like the look of the new state-of-the-art Cobra Kai facility in this and Silver's house.)
I think the writers heard the criticism of how the show can spin its wheels a bit with the characters, and I'm happy to say that there is a LOT of character growth here. A lot of parts feel like they have an endgame and characters are finally working through their issues. I especially felt troubled Cobra Kai fighter Tory (Jessie/Bunk'd's Peyton List) had some especially strong development and storyline this time around. One of the few characters who are still mired in their issues that have been plaguing them is Danny, whose hatred towards Silver and Cobra Kai is consuming him more than ever. He's been doing it since season one, but I'm surprisingly not tired of it like I was the last few seasons. It's really because it feels like the show is nearing the finish line with his issues. The writers are finally addressing how toxic and self-destructive they have become for Danny, and they feel less repetitive because the show is finally hitting the nail on the head with what truly made Danny this way: it's never been just Cobra Kai, but his hatred toward Terry Silver and what he did to him in the third Karate Kid film. Also, the writers even managed to make Stingray (Richard Jewel's Paul Walter Hauser), who annoyed me previously, actually tolerable and sympathetic.
The show also cuts down on the repetitive team drama here by focusing more on the adults, again like the writers realized they've dried up the well with the teen's dojo-on-dojo high rivalries and were giving us some relief. Speaking of the adults, it was a great idea to make Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), Danny's rival-turned-ally from the second KK film be a full cast member this season. He turns out to the be the funniest character, an interesting combo of sincerity and intensity.
Also if you're tired of the aimlessness of some of the conflict in seasons two and three, you won't find it here. Season five exactly knows where it's going. Silver is kinda a supervillain here with a main plan, and it's refreshing how more focused and efficient he is than Kreese. After three seasons of the guy as main villain, it's nice to go with someone else. (You don't get much Kreese, but he does shine in the scenes he does have.) Silver is one of the best elements here with his charisma, intelligence, manipulativeness, and sheer psychosis. You also get a new ally of Silver in the form of a Korean karate instructor named Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim). The actress immediately cinches the role the moment you hear her speak, bringing an energized, sinister confidence.
If I had any issues with this, it's that the show finally addresses the background of Kreese and Silver learning their style of karate under their mentor who was name dropped in the third film, and it's just not at all as interesting as what your imagination could have come up with.
Highly recommended. It's a really good time.
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